Poland’s Death Metal scene over recent years has flourished and continued to grow at a rapid rate. It now has a raft of bands, many of whom have become relative house hold names in Death Metal circles leading the way in extreme metal. Bands such as Behemoth, Decapitated, Hate being but three acts plying their trade under the Death Metal banner, but there are none who have the pedigree and history of Vader. The Olsztyn based band date back as far as 1983 and with seven studio albums behind them; they really can call themselves ‘elder statesmen’.

Vader in truth is the vision of one man, Piotr Wiwczarek who is the only existing member that dates back to the bands inception and chief architect of the Vader sound. The bands eight and latest album ‘Necropolis’ marks a new chapter for Vader, with a new line-up (again) getting it’s recording debut. This is however in reality the only change from the previous albums, as stylistically and musically Vader have continued down their well trodden path of their previous seven albums. ‘Necropolis’ is Death Metal at its purest form, aggressive, direct and totally in your face. The production quality is excellent and allows you to really hear some of the intricacies of Wiwczarek and Kiełtyka's guitar work and stays away from that muddy guitar sound often favoured by some of the US Death Metal acts.

Vader to be fair have always attempted, while not always succeeding to keep their songs as varied as possible while remaining within confines of the traditional Death Metal boundaries. ‘Necropolis’ is no different, there are plenty of blast beat moments to enjoy along with the more (dare I say) catchy interludes to give the album punch and head thrashing appeal. The absence of long-time drummer Doc doesn’t have any significant impact to the bands ferocity and Tue Madsen has done a commendable job in ensuring the albums mixing is balanced, an issue that had dogged previous Vader releases.

The album has no real stand out tracks which could be seen as the whole album being equally strong or that there is nothing of real stand out quality on offer, and I think that there is a mixture of both here. Vader will never be held in the same regard as Obituary, Death or a Morbid Angel and given their contribution, particularly to the development of the European Death Metal scene is a travesty. ‘Necropolis’ is a more than solid album and should be on your play list if traditional old school Death Metal is your thing and rather than looking for all the things Vader don’t do, we should simply enjoy all the very good things they have brought us.